ORLANDO, FL – Fighting Illini junior golfer Max Herendeen has been selected to compete in the 2026 Arnold Palmer Cup as part of Team USA, it was announced Tuesday evening live on Golf Channel.
Herendeen will make his second consecutive appearance at the prestigious Ryder Cup-style event. He competed for Team USA in 2025 at Congaree Golf Club outside Ridgeland, S.C., and will once again represent Team USA as they take on Team International at Tralee Golf Links in West Barrow, Ireland, July 3-5.
A two-time All-American as a freshman and sophomore, Herendeen garnered preseason All-America accolades leading into the 2025-26 season. He is No. 50 nationally in the NCAA Division I men's golf rankings, the top spot on the Illinois team and second in the Big Ten this season. He has posted a career-low scoring average (70.67), on pace for the program's all-time Top 10, and his career average of 70.83 is currently No. 2 in program history behind Adrien Dumont de Chassart's school record (70.82). A four-time collegiate winner, Herendeen captured medalist honors at the 2026 Duck Invitational in March and is coming off of a T3 finish to earn All-Championship Team honors at the Big Ten Championship last weekend. Entering NCAA Regionals, Herendeen leads the Fighting Illini with 21 rounds of par or better, 14 rounds in the 60s, and five top-five finishes this season.
Herendeen is the eighth different Illini men's golfer to compete at the Palmer Cup. Illinois has now sent a representative to the event five times in the last six years and 11 times since 2010. Herendeen joins Dumont de Chassart and Thomas Detry as the third Fighting Illini to play in the event twice, and the first to do so with Team USA. Other Illini to compete in the Arnold Palmer Cup are: Tommy Kuhl (2023), Adrien Dumont de Chassart (2021 and 2022), Nick Hardy (2017), Charlie Danielson (2016), Thomas Detry (2014 and 2015), Thomas Pieters (2012), and Scott Langley (2010).
For more information about the Palmer Cup, visit arnoldpalmercup.com.
